Science Says Pasta Doesn’t Make You Gain Weight

Step One: Head to your favorite Italian place and order up a heapin’ helping of pasta.

OK, not really. But new research seems to indicate that carb-laden pasta isn’t the dietary disaster we once thought. In fact, it may help you achieve and maintain a healthy Body Mass Index and narrow your waist. And where was this research done, you ask? At the Neuromed Institute in – yep – Italy.

Pope Francis is likely excited about this news. The Pontiff’s doctors recently limited his pasta intake as part of a weight-loss plan, according to Italian media outlets.

True, spaghetti benefited from home court advantage in the study, but don’t dismiss its findings. The report’s conclusion isn’t all that radical. In fact, it offers timeless wisdom. The researchers say there is no reason to drop pasta from your diet. Nor should you binge in the noodles. Instead, they suggest, eat pasta in moderation.

That’s good advice for any food, or most anything in life. We Americans too often seem to live by the motto, Why have enough of a good thing when you can have way too much of it? We’d be better off hewing to Aristotle’s advice: “In all things, moderation.”